US Media Create Another Flood Of Negative Publicity On Tunaff

By Atuna.com

The U.S. tuna industry continues to be hit by bad publicity, thanks to a new mercury study that major American news outlets are covering this week. In some articles, the study’s lead author says it’s best to stay away from “big fishes” like tuna because they typically contain the most mercury. High concentrations of mercury are toxic to human health, and while fish are a source of the element, there have still been not been any reliable studies on the existence of any health risks of eating tuna.

Headlines such as “Prenatal Mercury Levels From Fish Tied to Attention Issue” and “Mom’s fish eating may affect child’s ADHD risk, study says” are particularly damaging for consumers who are often in a hurry and unable to read the entire story. On Google, there were almost 2000 news hits with the key words “ADHD” and “mercury”  in the last 24 hours.

US Media outlets appear to have a great appetite for bashing tuna, without making any effort of deeper analysis of the facts. Sensationalism seems to be the main driver.  Remarkably is that over the last decade European media have hardly covered the issue with this same ferocity as the US media. 

According to the new research, which was published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, kids who were exposed to more mercury in the womb were more likely to show symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), such as hyperactivity, impulsiveness and inattentiveness, at age 8.

The same study also found that mothers who ate more fish during pregnancy – at least two servings per week – had a 60% lower risk of kids developing ADHD symptoms.

“The really important message is to eat fish. Just stay away from mercury containing fish, because these protective effects are pretty important,” Sharon Sagiv, the study’s lead author from the Boston University School of Public Health in Massachusetts, was quoted as saying in media reports.

The researchers did not clinically diagnose the kids with ADHD, but only concluded if they had symptoms that were typical of the disorder. As well, the study did not determine the kinds of fish that were eaten by the mothers while pregnant.

Tuna is America’s second most consumed seafood item and while mercury scares continue to do more harm than good, some consumers are not fazed by this recent “bad news.”

On the discussion board on the NBC news website, below the Reuters article, user “NewMalthus” wrote, “B.S., The link would should up in other cultures that eat way more fish than is in even a fish heavy American diet, it doesn’t.”